Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- Choe Son Hui, First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA on April 30, as regards the sophistry let loose by Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State concerning the issue of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula:

At an interview with CBS on April 24, Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, talked about so-called "change paths."

This is a foolish and dangerous idea designed to bring down our system at any cost even by resorting to the military means, as their maximum pressure and economic blockade are not working against us.

In his historic policy speech made at the First Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly, Comrade Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, articulated the stand that the United States needs to put aside the current method of calculation and approach us with a new method of calculation and we would wait until the end of this year to see whether the U.S. makes a courageous decision or not.

In other words, he set a time limit for the settlement of nuclear issue which could be possible if the U.S. comes up with a proper method of calculation before the end of this year.

At the DPRK-Russia summit talks held on April 25, Comrade Chairman of the State Affairs Commission strongly berated the unilateral and dishonest attitude of the United States and stated that the peace and security of the Korean peninsula will be entirely dependent on the future American attitude and the DPRK will be prepared to deal with every possible scenario.

Our determination for denuclearization remains unchanged, and when the time comes, we will put it into practice. But, this is possible only under the condition that the U.S. changes their current method of calculation and formulates a new stand.

As for the so-called "change paths" talked about by the United States, it is not a privileged right that pertains only to the U.S., but it could also be our choice at our own will.

In case the U.S. is messing the problem and wandering along the other road like now, and would not formulate their position anew within the time frame set by our side, they will indeed face an undesired consequence.

We are well aware of the road we are to follow but we are merely holding back our decision because we have provided the time frame for the U.S.

The United States might better choose their path ahead, taking deep to their hearts the meaning behind the year-end time frame provided by our side. -0-